It apparently would take more than a brief interaction for Danny to figure out how to talk to Kaye. He didn’t expect her to care what was causing his subdued mood, but he didn’t think she would grin about it. Hey, at least she wasn’t asking anything about it, so he would take inexplicable amusement and not be dissatisfied.

Nutella was a product with which Danny had become familiar thanks to his friendships and experiences at RMI. Muggle branded products didn’t tend to feature in his life outside school, and the sweet spread wasn’t something his parents were likely to keep in the house, anyway. At least he was sufficiently well acquainted with it now to understand Kaye’s answer (which he had predicted correctly, rendering his question less interesting than it could have been if the hidden ingredients had turned out to exist). She really didn’t have to put some of her food on his plate. Really.

If Danny seemed startled by the gesture, it was because that was accurate. He didn’t share food, it was a bizarre thing to do with friends - he had just about been encouraged to share popcorn at the movies - and far weirder to do with someone you barely knew. Yet somehow he knew he would be considered odd if he told Kaye he didn’t like to eat other people’s food. He had very few hang ups, but putting things in his mouth that had been near other people’s mouths was definitely one of them. “That’s really not necessary,” he tried to object, but it was too late: a slice of crepes with Nutella and strawberries was now on his plate. He picked up the glass that had been knocked over to cover his sigh.

“Okay, pretty boy, tell me what you have.” Dardanius looked at Kaye from beneath raised eyebrows. That felt like an insult, but he wasn’t sure how or why. He did not know how to interpret this person. He also didn’t understand why Kaye had decided to talk to him on today of all days, nor why the glimpse of Rose and Ruben he caught over her shoulder made his mood worse. The sigh he exhaled was audible on this occasion.

“Caramelized apple waffle,” he replied in a tone of defeat. He cut off a similarly-sized piece to the one she had given him, and placed it in front of Kaye. “Here, fair exchange,” Danny’s tone indicated that the food swap was as non-optional as him having crepes with Nutella on his plate. Surreal, he thought as he popped the crepe into his mouth and made an expression at its sweetness that wasn’t dissimilar from the face some people might make sucking a lemon. “How can you eat a whole plate of that?” he asked rhetorically, reaching for his coffee once he had swallowed to balance the sugar overload with something bitter.

Oh cool, it looked like she’d confused him. Kaye wasn’t surprised; she took a bit of pride in being able to confuse people. She’d spent quite a bit of her life being teased and bullied. It started... more

Kaye wondered what other sweet crepes she could get the house elves to make. Nutella and strawberries was a very good go-to, but there were so many other options. For a Muggle branded food, it was... more

He would concede that his own meal was sweet, and certainly more so than his usual selections. “I usually go for more savoury stuff,” Danny offered an explanation for his reaction to Kaye’s crepes.... more